In February 1917 Sargent took time off from his Boston Public Library mural project to travel to Ormond Beach, Florida, to paint a portrait of John D. Rockefeller (Rockefeller Collection, Kykuit, Tarrytown, New York). After completing the portrait he continued south to the Miami area to visit Charles Deering, a friend and important patron whom he had met during his student days in Paris. This watercolor may depict Deering at his residence at Brickell Point on the Miami River.